By building a lung model, you can teach kids about respiration and how their lungs work. After cutting off the bottom of a plastic bottle, you’ll stretch a balloon around the opened end and insert another balloon through the mouth of the bottle. You’ll then push a straw through the neck of the bottle and secure it with a rubber band and play dough. By blowing into the straw, the balloons will inflate then deflate, similar to how our lungs work. Younger children are most likely to be interested in something which is very hands-on, and gives results quickly. They probably won’t be interested in growing a crystal, and are probably a bit young for something like a robot building kit. Young kids will be most likely to enjoy a gross science kit, or a volcano kit. Also think about safety features when buying for younger children. Make sure they won’t eat anything they shouldn’t, or there are no small parts which could be dangerous. Find out how plants “drink” water with some food coloring. Use carnations, roses, or stalks of celery submerged in the colored water and watch the liquid slowly seep through the plant’s “veins” and towards the leaves. Keep an eye out -- you could have a very colorful bouquet just after the first day. Get the rundown by Dad’s Book of Awesome Science Experiments over here. If you do this sidewalk constellation craft, you’ll be able to see the Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt in the daylight. On the sidewalk, have kids draw the lines of constellations (using constellation diagrams for guidance) and place stones where the stars are. You can then look at astronomy charts to see where the constellations they drew will be in the sky. Scientific Explorer's Mind Blowing Science Kit makes it possible to create your very own science lab at home. This smartly designed science kit allows young scientists to perform several amazing science experiments that range from erupting a color-changing volcano to growing colorful, jiggly crystals. Young scientists will learn about basic principles behind the science including the difference between acids and bases, and how to use a test tube and pipette. Although designed for use by children ages four and older, adult supervision is needed for safety and to ensure that young scientists get the most out of the Mind Blowing Science Kit.
This light refraction experiment takes only a few minutes to set up and uses basic materials, but it’s a great way to show kids how light travels. You’ll draw two arrows on a sticky note, stick it to the wall, then fill a clear water bottle with water. As you move the water bottle in front of the arrows, the arrows will appear to change the direction they’re pointing. This is because of the refraction that occurs when light passes through materials like water and plastic.

Let’s be honest, we’re all secretly waiting for the hovercraft to be a bonafide mode of transport, but in the meantime why not try this Balloon Hovercraft experiment at home? Using just a balloon, a bottle cap and a CD, you’ll be able to create a hovercraft that glides across the table to move, and with just 3 easy steps to follow, it’s perfect for a quick at-home activity.

Below are 37 of the best science projects for kids to try. For each one we include a description of the experiment, which area(s) of science it teaches kids about, how difficult it is (easy/medium/hard), how messy it is (low/medium/high), and the materials you need to do the project. Note that experiments labelled “hard” are definitely still doable; they just require more materials or time than most of these other science experiments for kids.
This experiment teaches kids about weather and lets them learn how clouds form by making their own rain cloud. This is definitely a science project that requires adult supervision since it uses boiling water as one of the ingredients, but once you pour the water into a glass jar, the experiment is fast and easy, and you’ll be rewarded with a little cloud forming in the jar due to condensation. Like the popular baking soda and vinegar experiments, this film canister rocket literally takes it to the next level by using that creation of gas and energy to jet off into the sky. If your explorer has seen videos of mountain tops getting blown off during a volcanic eruption, this science project is pretty much any space lover’s version. Get the building instructions over at kids science activity blog The Science Kiddo. Lightning is essentially electrons moving uber fast between the sky and the earth—and with a few simple materials, you can use homemade static electricity (the reason behind your hair sticking up when you rub a balloon or go through a tunnel slide super fast) for DIY lightning. Figure how to recreate a family-friendly version of this spark by visiting activity blog Learn Play Imagine. Red cabbage powder (0.25oz/7g), citric acid (2oz/59ml), baking soda (2oz/59ml), 3 color tablets, cross-linked polyacrylamide co-polymer (0.5oz/14g), vegetable oil (2oz/59ml), corn starch (2oz/59ml), paper, 2 cotton swabs, 3 test tubes with caps, test tube stand, 3 plastic cups, pipette, stir 2 sticks, small and medium plastic measuring scoops and activity guide. Fire is fun. Colored fire is even better. These additives are safe. They won't, in general, produce a smoke that is any better or worse for you than normal wood smoke. Depending on what you add, the ashes will have a different elemental composition from a normal wood fire, but if you're burning trash or printed material, you have a similar end result. In my opinion, this is suitable for a home fire or campfire, plus most chemicals are found around the house (even of non-chemists).London Science Museum | ThinkTank - Birmingham Science Museum | Aberdeen Science Centre | Glasgow Science Centre | Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester | Life Science Centre (Centre for Life), Newcastle | National Science and Media Museum, Manchester | Techniquest, Cardiff | Museum of Victorian Science, Whitby | Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge | Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
Call the emergency services straight away if anything goes wrong. However these are all well-tested and very safe for the ages provided by the manufacturers, so rest assured this is only a formality, but it is good to be safe and start young with proper preventative measures. After all, what you start now will set the example for what they grow up to be. I believe all children have the potential to be the next latest and greatest scientific inventor, but they just need to get things started. Holistic learning and hands-on approaches to teaching complex ideas make the difficult a lot less so. Absorbing information and fine-tuning their ability to sit and focus on one project will help set the foundation for them to become able to learn in a coherent and disciplined way, while also being fun. Have you ever gone into a cave and seen huge stalactites hanging from the top of the cave? Stalactites are formed by dripping water. The water is filled with particles which slowly accumulate and harden over the years, forming stalactites. You can recreate that process with this stalactite experiment. By mixing a baking soda solution, dipping a piece of wool yarn in the jar and running it to another jar, you’ll be able to observe baking soda particles forming and hardening along the yarn, similar to how stalactites grow.
Are you looking for cool science experiments for kids at home or for class? We’ve got you covered! We’ve compiled a list of 37 of the best science experiments for kids that cover areas of science ranging from outer space to dinosaurs to chemical reactions. By doing these easy science experiments, kids will make their own blubber and see how polar bears stay warm, make a rain cloud in a jar to observe how weather changes, create a potato battery that’ll really power a lightbulb, and more. The word “oobleck” comes from a Dr. Seuss story where a young boy must rescue his kingdom from a sticky substance. But the neat part of this experiment is how oobleck reacts to vibrations. Put the oobleck over a subwoofer (on top a cookie sheet!) and watch it dance to difference frequencies. Your dancer will see how sound isn’t just about volume! Check out more of this awesome experiment from Tammy of Housing a Forest. This is one of the quick and easy and science experiments for kids to teach them about weather. It only takes about five minutes and a few materials to set up, but once you have it ready you and your kids can create your own miniature tornado whose vortex you can see and the strength of which you can change depending on how quickly you swirl the jar. Ever got an electric shock off something? Demonstrate the science behind the shocks with this jumping frogs experiment. With just a balloon, some sugar paper and a woolly jumper, you’ll have frogs leaping in no time demonstrating the power of static electricity. It doesn’t have to be frogs either, let your imagination run wild to create some other jumping stars of this easy science experiment! London Science Museum | ThinkTank - Birmingham Science Museum | Aberdeen Science Centre | Glasgow Science Centre | Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester | Life Science Centre (Centre for Life), Newcastle | National Science and Media Museum, Manchester | Techniquest, Cardiff | Museum of Victorian Science, Whitby | Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge | Museum of the History of Science, Oxford